ECE Funding Handbook

The Waha Rumaki allowance supports certificated kaiako to carry out their work in kaupapa Māori immersion and bilingual education and care services.

Waha Rumaki

The name Waha Rumaki was given to the Ministry by Ngā Puna Reo o Aotearoa.

Waha, in this context, means to carry or to uplift, to raise up.  It is also a person's mouth, voice, and the action of speaking. 

Rumaki means to immerse or be immersed.  It also means to plant (i.e., sowing te reo Māori).

Additionally, waha is both a noun and a verb, and in the context of the allowance, is interpreted as below:

• Noun: Waha is both the person who carries or uplifts te reo Māori. That person is the waha that carries or maintains the rumaki.
• Verb: Waha also refers the action, strategies, and practical application of uplifting te reo and maintaining a rumaki (reo Māori only) learning environment.

The purpose of this allowance is to:

• give practical recognition of te reo Māori as a taonga to be actively protected under Te Tiriti o Waitangi, and
• recognise the additional skills certificated kaiako in kaupapa Māori immersion and bilingual education and care services that must teach the curriculum in te reo Māori, and
• support kaupapa Māori immersion and bilingual education and care services to recognise, retain and attract certificated kaiako with the additional language skills they require.

The Waha Rumaki allowance serves to support kaupapa Māori immersion and bilingual kaiako, who aspire to provide a full immersion environment for tamariki in te reo Māori, to carry out their work in kaupapa Māori immersion teaching and learning early childhood environments. 

The Waha Rumaki allowance is available to kaupapa Māori immersion and bilingual education and care services that are able to attest:

• that the kaupapa Māori immersion service teaches in te reo Māori at least 81% to 100% of the time,or
• that the bilingual service teaches in te reo Māori at least 51% to 80% of the time, and
• the hours of employment for each certificated kaiako, and
• the years of service of each certificated kaiako teaching in te reo Māori immersion (81% to 100%) and bilingual (51% to 80%) environments, and
• that the service is paying Waha Rumaki to their certificated kaiako on top of their base salary.

81% to 100% immersion:

• Te reo Māori is the principal language of communication and instruction with mokopuna used 81% or more of the time, including in the implementation of the curriculum.
• It is expected that mokopuna in the service can interact freely in te reo Māori, without instruction.

51% to 80% bilingual:

• Te reo Māori is used at least 51% of the time as the language of communication and instruction with mokopuna, including in the implementation of the curriculum.
• English is accepted as a temporary language of instruction and communication.
• Not all mokopuna in the service are expected to interact freely in te reo Māori, however, will do so when instructed.

The level that a service attests to meeting is assessed across the entire service licence. The average amount of time spent teaching in te reo Māori across the entire service will be used to determine the immersion level.

For example, a service that operates a te reo immersion and bilingual room within a service is unlikely to be eligible for the 51-80% bilingual allowance. They will not meet the 81% -100% immersion requirement across the entire service.

Every permanent certificated kaiako employed by and teaching in a licensed service that receives Waha Rumaki is eligible for this allowance.

The allowance is irrespective of the language competency of individual certificated kaiako or mokopuna attending the service.

Certificated kaiako are eligible to receive their allowance while on paid leave for their usual days worked.

If a certificated kaiako is on extended leave without pay for their usual days worked, they cannot claim the allowance during this time.

Certificated kaiako who work across more than one eligible service will receive the allowance at a pro-rata rate.

Certificated kaiako cannot receive more than one full allowance entitlement.

Where a certificated kaiako is employed part-time in a teaching or management role and part-time in another role, the certificated kaiako is eligible to receive the pro-rata allowance for all hours connected to their employment in a teaching role or management position.

Where a certificated kaiako, employed in a non-teaching role, engages in a teaching role regularly, for example to regularly cover breaks, they are eligible to receive the allowance for all hours they are engaged in a teaching role.

For certificated kaiako employed in split roles, only the hours they are employed engaging in duties and responsibilities in a teaching role should be counted as hours of work. Information on split roles can be found in 3-B-2 Education and care services.

3-B-2 Education and care services

The rates, per annum per certificated kaiako, are:  

The allowance will be paid at higher rates as the certificated kaiako increases their years of service as outlined in the table above.

A full allowance is based on a certificated kaiako being employed for a 40-hour week, 2,080 hours a year. The allowance does not increase if certificated kaiako work more than 2,080 hours per year.

This allowance will be calculated at a pro-rata rate for part time certificated kaiako, based on the total number of hours they are employed for.

If a certificated kaiako works across two services that apply for the allowance, the allowance will be calculated at a pro-rata amount across both services.

Education and care services that meet the required immersion or bilingual levels outlined in the next sub section will be required to attest:

• that the service teaches in te reo Māori 51 – 80% of the time or 81 – 100% of the time, and
• kaiako years of service teaching in te reo Māori at 51 – 80% of the time or 81 – 100% of the time for all certificated kaiako, and
• hours of employment for each certificated kaiako, and
• that the service is paying Waha Rumaki to their certificated kaiako on top of their base salary.

The service will be required to update their attestation and allowance application if their staffing changes at any time.

Examples of potential changes:

• kaiako resignation
• a change in kaiako employed working hours
• new kaiako starting employment in your service
• kaiako moves up a ‘years of service’ band.

It is the responsibility of a service provider to ensure that any delegated representative who may complete the Waha Rumaki allowance application understands what attestation conditions their service has met prior to submitting the application.

If a service is found to have not met the necessary funding conditions of the Waha Rumaki allowance:

• the funding claim may be reviewed, and funding withheld, and/or
• the service will have to pay back the total amount of any overpayment.

To update a service’s attestation, services must submit a new Waha Rumaki Allowance application and contact the funding team at ece.maoripacificfunding@education.govt.nz.

Services receiving the Waha Rumaki allowance must keep the following documentation:

• a copy of the current practising certificate of each certificated kaiako, and
• records that verify each certificated kaiako years of service in a bilingual and immersion service, and
• records that verify each certificated kaiako hours of employment, and
• records of allowance payments to certificated kaiako.

You must supply this documentation to the Ministry’s Resourcing Auditors as part of the funding claim audit.

Documentation (including copies of practising certificates) must be kept for 7 years.

See Chapter 11-2 for all funding claim audits and record keeping audits information relating to early childhood education services that are eligible for Ministry of Education funding.

Chapter 11-2

The years of experience of a certificated kaiako includes all previous experience as a certificated kaiako in a teaching role and management position in a te reo Māori immersion or bilingual environment. This can include experience as a:

• certificated kaiako employed in a kaiako role at a level 1 or 2 equivalent, te reo Māori immersion or bilingual environment within a New Zealand state or state integrated school (including Kura Kaupapa Māori and Ngā Kura a Iwi), or
• certificated kaiako in a kaiako role or management position in a licensed te reo Māori immersion or bilingual early childhood service (including puna reo and kōhanga reo).

The kaiako is responsible for providing evidence, to the satisfaction of their employer, of any factors used to determine the length of service as a certificated kaiako in a recognised te reo Māori immersion or bilingual environment.

For certificated kaiako, any previous experience as an uncertificated kaiako in te reo Māori immersion or bilingual environments should be credited as half-service up to a maximum of 2 years experience. This experience could have been paid or unpaid.

Any previous relevant work experience that has occurred within the past 10 years should be credited as half-service up to a maximum of 2 years service.

Any previous relevant work experience that has occurred more than 10 years ago should not be credited.

Half-service means that each hour worked in the relevant role should be counted as half an hour of work for purposes of calculating experience in an immersion environment.

The kaiako is responsible for providing evidence, to the satisfaction of their employer, of any factors used to determine the length of service as an uncertificated kaiako in a recognised te reo Māori immersion or bilingual environment that could be counted as previous relevant work experience.

For the Waha Rumaki allowance, an employed certificated kaiako, years of experience must be counted as:

• the completion of 2,080 hours of work at a te reo Māori immersion or bilingual service, and
• the kaiako is assessed as meeting the applicable Teaching Council of Aotearoa New Zealand’s Standards | Ngā Paerewa for the purposes of certification.

Hours of work relates to the total hours required for a certificated kaiako to properly fulfil the duties and responsibilities connected with their employment.  This will include, rostered hours, non-contact hours, staff meetings, paid professional learning and development and any paid leave.

Relieving kaiako hours of work at a te reo Māori immersion or bilingual service can count towards their length of service. Completion of 2,080 hours of work is equal to one year of service.

Where a kaiako has been assessed as not meeting the appropriate Teaching Council of Aotearoa New Zealand’s Standards | Ngā Paerewa for their category of practising certificate, years of experience allowance progression may be deferred. For each kaiako to progress to their next step they will need to demonstrate that they meet the appropriate professional Standards.

Progression of certificated kaiako through the allowance steps described in this section is only a required funding condition while a service attests to meeting the requirements of this allowance. If a service chooses not to attest, at any point, the condition does not apply. However, legal agreements that specify allowance entitlements may still apply (e.g., employment contracts).

This allowance will be paid to services monthly in arrears following the receipt of a service’s application.

Following receipt of this payment services must pay the full allowance payment received to  each certificated kaiako (i.e., in monthly instalments). This payment must be paid as an additional payment on top of the certificated kaiako base salary.

Eligible services must complete the RS7 return for the ECE Subsidy funding round preceding an application being submitted for the allowance.

If a completed RS7 return is not received for the ECE Subsidy funding cycle, the Waha Rumaki allowance will not be paid.

In accordance with Section 548 of the Education and Training Act 2020, eligible services that fail to meet the conditions of funding may no longer be eligible for funding and either all or part of this funding may be recovered by the Ministry of Education as outlined in Chapter 2-7 Recovery of early childhood education funding.

Chapter 2-7 Recovery of early childhood education funding